The New Girl
by Airetaurwen
Summary: A new girl, very late to the wizarding world, is taken on as a special project by Dumbledore and mixed in with the rest of the 7th years. But does this interaction leave her broken hearted, like many, over the suave and mysterious Sirius Black?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The minute Rose stepped off the plane, she knew that the right decision had finally been made. Even inside this stuffy old airport, everything was different. The smells, the sounds, the look! Well – okay, not so much the look. This was only her second encounter with an airport; her first being in Toronto about 3 hours ago. So honestly, she couldn't really spot much difference. But that fact aside, everything was new and exciting. She felt as if life was worth exploring again. Suddenly, the doom-and-gloom stuck-in-one-place-forever feelings lifted and her happy learn-and-see-all-you-can personality returned with enthusiasm.

"What to do first?" Rose said quietly to herself, after having finally made it past the various check points. She had virtually been awake 'all night' in London time. Back in Toronto, it would only be 1 or 2 am but here it was early morning. Accounting for the jump of about 5 hours, she figured it was probably 7am here – way too early to expect to check into a hotel. That wasn't high on her priorities, though; her job had given her the ability to stay up all night and still be cognizant. She would take advantage of that and spend most of the day exploring.

So what did she want to do then? Was she up for renting a car, or was the driving system entirely too different to try learning it on her first day here? Surely, this being a smaller country, castles and landmarks weren't as hard to get to? Castles. Landmarks. Museums.

"Right, pamphlets" she said out loud, nodding to herself and walking over to one of the little stores. If she didn't want to drive, then she'd have to find something that was within walking – or bussing – distance. Butterflies erupted in her stomach – the bus system! What would it be like here? Probably different! "So much to learn", she said, smiling. "But lots of time" she added.

She was having a little difficulty finding exactly what she was looking for in this store. Rose didn't shop the way most tourists or women did – she would scan quickly, roving her eyes over the racks of things. She didn't like to sit still in one place, and that meant that picking things up and looking for more detail did not happen. Instead she would walk around, rather quickly, scanning all the titles and pictures. If she didn't catch everything the first time around, she would repeat the process.

She didn't realize at first that this peculiar habit was attracting attention – which wasn't surprising considering this was her third trip around the same rack. An old man off to the side at the magazine stand was holding his magazine rather high. Every once in awhile he would peer out from behind it at her and glance quickly. She saw him do this once and wasn't sure what to make of it. Rose looked around her to see if anyone else was looking covertly; no one was. She started to worry a little bit – what if he was one of those guys who scouts out people alone? He had probably heard her speaking under her breath earlier and such too, which would make it a little obvious that no one was with her.

But he was so old. That beard must stretch down to his waist if only it wasn't tied up a little. He wore strange spectacles and his attire wasn't exactly modern. His face looked kind, and his eyes had a certain sparkle she couldn't quite help but feel drawn to. He was smiling at her now, openly staring. Rose looked away, embarrassed. She had never been one to be caught looking at strange people.

"Right..." she said to herself. "Just another day in this crazy life of mine". She smiled and continued looking up and down the racks with information on various things to do and see. Not a few seconds had passed, however, and someone was beside her.

"Excuse me", they said in the lowest of voices. "I really think", he paused and held out something "that you might find this of some interest. You won't find anything like it here, in this store, or nearby". She took it, and looked up into his face quickly. It was the old man – he smiled and turned to walk away.

She looked at the paper he had handed her.

'**Open an Account Today!**

**Gringotts, goblin owned and run.**

**Your gold will never be safer!**

**From Britain to Mozambique,**

**Australia to the North pole**

**--**

**Trusted by the World Over**

**--**

**Diagon Alley'** she skimmed.

"Wait!" she called after him. Was this some sort of trick to lure her out to a secluded place? But…then, who would honestly use something so obscure ('gringotts' and a 'diagon alley')? For that matter, how could a complete stranger know that something obscure would be exactly what would lure her places?

He turned around and gave her a quizzical look, but still with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes.

"What is this for?"

"An establishment for exchanging money"

"Where is this?" she asked, giving him what must have been a very clueless look.

"Oh I think you'll find an intricate map, with directions, conveniently located on the back of this specific flyer" he said and walked away.

Rose turned it over and sure enough, there was a very intricate hand-drawn map. It had little arrows pointing from where she was standing – exactly – to where she could find this gringotts – she assumed it was a bank (but was completely perplexed about the gold part). There were hand-written directions about a specific part of the way:

'_When you reach this corner,_

_enter the shop with the sign_

_"the leaky cauldron"._

_See 'Tom' for help reaching_

_Diagon Alley.'_

'Was he Tom, The old man with the long beard? If he was, why didn't he show me the way to this Diagon Alley himself? If he wasn't…well then, why was I supposed to meet Tom instead?' she brooded over these questions.

Still…a bank had to be a pretty safe place, right? She was planning on being in Britain for a long time, and sooner or later she was expecting to visit one to exchange currency. It didn't seem like a bad idea for her first day here, actually. Rose memorized the map and decided to start out. 'I wonder' she thought to herself 'why me?'

She finally reached the corner indicated, and saw what looked like an old run down shop. Her gaze shifted so quickly back and forth from the paper to the empty shop that she must have resembled a bobble head. A few people stared at her as they walked by. Her face turned red from embarrassment. At least she was wearing her Canadian flag and would have that excuse; for all the passers knew, she was referring to a map. 'A real map', she added to herself.

She walked closer to see what the sign on the next shop was – it was labelled on her paper. Maybe she could figure out whether the empty shop was the right one, based on the shop next to it? But she didn't need to walk far. Upon moving closer, the sign suddenly had words etched into it "The Leaky Cauldron".

Rose stopped dead in her tracks. "What?" she said out loud. She backed up, and the words disappeared again. She moved forwards, and there they were. This process was repeated a couple of times until suddenly a hand touched her shoulder.

"Are you lost dear?" an old voice croaked. It belonged to a woman with grey hair and a well lined face. She was doubled over and it must have cost her quite some effort to reach Rose's shoulder.

"No! Not at all, thank you!" she squeaked in response quickly and ran until she was a couple of streets away. That interruption had scared her more than the strange sign. She leaned against a wall, catching her breath. A few minutes later, she looked at the paper again. Something she hadn't noticed before was written in tiny letters – 'things are not always as they appear – trust is a leap of faith'.

After a few good moments of chewing this over, she decided that maybe the shop wasn't really empty. Maybe, since the sign appears when you get close, the shop becomes an actual place too. She turned and walked back towards it.

The corner was deserted now – which Rose was thankful for. She was about to walk into the unknown and didn't exactly want any witnesses. As she got closer, the sign appeared again – The Leaky Cauldron. She walked forward without hesitation, pretending like she did this every day. She opened the door, it gave no resistance, so she continued in.

The light was very dim inside, and her first impression was that it was the place time forgot – dust was everywhere, and it had a general ancient look to it. As she looked around, however, she noticed the shelves behind the bar were stocked. Her gaze continued and she saw not only a man behind the bar, but also the older woman who had given her a scare just moments before. Both were smiling at her, as if they were expecting her. She grinned back sheepishly and walked over to them.

"You must be" the old woman started "the young lady Dumbledore told us about." When all she received was a blank look, she continued "from the aeroport place?"

"Oh…" Rose said. "He never…he…well…names", she stuttered and looked at her paper again. "I'm looking for Tom. He's supposed to show me a Diagon Alley?"

"That's Tom, the barman. He's busy, m'dear, I'm going to show you instead. If you don't mind?"

"But…I've got it here. What-did-you-call-him gave me this. It says…Tom?"

"Aye, she'll help you miss." Tom the barman said, pointing to the old woman.

Rose looked at them both in turn. Finally she decided that she'd rather be shown around by a woman than a man anyways – not that she was biased – but just because it was moderately safer. She still didn't know exactly where she was being led to. Having decided this, she nodded and said to the woman "my name is Rose".

This gained some sort of approval, and the woman smiled again and introduced herself "Ms. Wisthera. Pleasure to meet you"

Ms. Wisthera got up and was no longer doubled over. She looked much healthier than before, actually. She beckoned Rose to follow her, and walked across the room to another door that led out into a tiny courtyard. This courtyard contained a single garbage can. The old woman gave instructions on how to get to Diagon Alley, and moved aside to let Rose try it out.

Innocently, Rose stepped up and went to touch the brick with her hand. Ms Wisthera tried to stop her, however, saying something about needing 'wands' and 'should have known better'. Rose put her hand down on one brick absentmindedly and it began to move, much to both of their surprise. It shifted into a wide arch that opened into a long, shop filled alley that many people were happily bustling around in. She gasped and stepped forward; Ms Wisthera looked at her in shock but followed nonetheless.

They walked in silence for a few moments; there was so much to take in.

"Madame Malkins Robes for all Occasions, the Apothecary, Olivanders makers of fine wands…" Rose took in all of the shop names. Ms Wisthera took her arm and spoke again after a few minutes:

"We should visit Gringotts first, m'dear. You'll need gold if you're to purchase everything on this list Dumbledore left me".

Rose looked over at her guide. "Who's Dumbledore? What list do you mean?" she asked. Then she remembered the other side of the paper. "What's gold mean exactly?" she blurted out.

"Dumbledore is the one who er – met you in the aeroport place. He's away on business at the moment, but will meet you later tonight to take you to Hogwarts. It's a school dear", she added upon seeing the bewildered look on Rose's face. "Although that's not without saying; you should be very careful who you accept invitations from these days. Oh if one of them nasty ones had of spied you first…I'd hate to think…but…well, that's behind us now. You're safe dear.

Dumbledore left me a list of things that he thought you would need. He'd like you to study magic at his school. Since it's still a good three weeks until term starts, he's going to give you a crash course on the basics. He'd like you to mingle in with the 7th years. You've got a lot of catching up to do if you ask me…but if Dumbledore says you can do it…" she trailed off.

"And…and gold?" Rose prompted.

"Yes! Oh, gold. Its our currency dear." Ms Wisthera explained all about the wizard monetary system as they walked towards Gringotts. Rose was quiet through everything, and listened to more random chatter while they waited in line. She looked at the goblins curiously, and they too were explained to her.

At last it was her turn, and Ms. Wisthera helped her get most of her cash exchanged to wizarding gold – apparently the exchange rate was favourable right now. So favourable in fact that Rose was prompted to open a bank account. Ms Wisthera nodded her head in approval, and with her help opened an account. She kept with her only what was needed for the supplies on the list.

Throughout the rest of the day, most of the shops were visited and Rose acquired many of the items on the list. She had bought robes – plain black, because she wasn't sure which house she would be placed into – and some dress robes (something about a few dances being held?); many different books, including some which peaked her interest that were not on the list; potions ingredients and a cauldron; quills and parchment; and a wand.

Her favourite experience had of course been getting her wand: Olivander was an incredibly kind man, and went through extreme lengths to assist her. He went through an incredible amount of wands and none of them seemed to work for her – he had said that she would just know if the wand had chosen her. At long last, a strange look came over his face and he rushed through a tiny door behind his counter. He emerged, slightly dusty, a few minutes later holding a wand on a pillow.

"Try this" Olivander said.

Rose picked it up off the pillow and instantly felt different. She couldn't explain quite what went through her, but she knew that she never wanted it to leave. She didn't want to change back.

"That would be it, then. One of a kind. Bloodwood, 12 ¾ inches, a single Peryton feather. Incredibly difficult creatures to find". Rose stared at him in wonder – she barely registered the fact that he was talking, and the significance of his words were lost on her. The only thing that mattered was that this wand was now hers.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Olivander explained to her, after she bought the wand, what a Peryton was. The front half of its body resembled a slender stag; he also had the wings of a raven and talons instead of hooves on his back legs. They are said to be the only creature that give off a shadow of a man, and thus the property of their souls have always been in question. But then, they also came from Atlantis – that fact right there put their soul in question. Mostly they kept to eating plants, but sometimes they would devour a lost tourist or traveller. On doing this, however, they would re-grow their own, natural, shadow and never need to kill a man again. They were very hard to come by in modern times as travelling had become regulated and standardized (so, safe), Olivander explained.

Rose had let him talk. She wasn't sure she liked the idea of such a strange and little-known-about creature being a part of her wand…a part of her now…but there really wasn't much choice. Ms Wisthera sat through everything up until then quietly, but before the story about the wand could go further she interrupted Olivander.

"Olivander" she said.

"The…what? Oh, Yes. Probably time to get going, isn't it?"

"Probably?" Rose said, a little bit curious. Did everyone know about her meeting with Dumbledore in the Airport? Why was she being treated so special? She decided that it would be one of the questions she asked when Dumbledore came to meet them later.

"Yes, yes. Here you are then" Olivander said, handing back her wand.

She left the shop with her guide. The sun would be setting soon, and the alley wasn't as crowded as it had been before. Rose suddenly remembered something that had puzzled her earlier in the day.

"Hey…um. What is Quidditch?" she asked.

"It's a game. You fly, high up in the air, on broomsticks. There are seven players. One of them guards the goals – yes, goals. There are three of them in this game" she said with a wink and continued, "and then there are three players who try and score a goal with a rather large, red ball. Having just those players would make it too easy, though: they also have another ball, smaller than the red one but much heavier, which is enchanted to fly around. There are two players that try to hit it at opposing team members, or keep their team safe from it."

"And the final player?" Rose asked, thinking that Quidditch must be quite the sport.

"The final player is the seeker – they spend the entire game looking for a tiny golden ball, so small it could fit your palm. If they catch this, they usually win the game for their team. Usually" She added for emphasis.

"So…so…" Rose said, taking all of this in.

"They have teams at Hogwarts, so you'll be able to watch it at some point this year".

A team at Hogwarts! Sports, with the exception of horse back riding, had never been her forte. But this was flying – and possibly resembled riding too! Maybe she could do this, and even if she couldn't get on one of the teams…she wanted a broom to fly on.

"Er – well, I think…wasn't there a store that sells brooms?" she said.

"Yes…there is" Ms Wisthera replied, eyeing her.

"I'd like to get a broom, too."

Ms Wisthera gave her a searching look. It became clear that she had been hiding her feelings about Rose all day – she didn't think that this girl could, or should, be attending Hogwarts. This look told Rose that she was some sort of outsider, and that even though Dumbledore had taken her in to go to school…the rest of it shouldn't be allowed to her. Rose decided to ignore it and started walking towards where the shop was. Ms. Wisthera followed her, but quietly.

She found the shop alright, and it was just barely still open. She went in, and since she had saved some gold earlier on purchases, had just enough for the broom in the display case. It was labelled "Silver arrow" and she had seen people oogling at it earlier in the day. In any case, it didn't look any more special to her but it said that it was the newest and top of the line. She was buying it just to fly – yes – but where was the harm in flying faster and having accuracy?

Ms Wisthera had composed herself by the time Rose turned around to face her, smiling, with her new broom. Perhaps, though, that was merely because of the presence of Dumbledore. He was standing behind them quietly, with a look of pleasant surprise on his face.

--

Dumbledore explained all sorts of things to Rose. What Hogwarts was, a little bit of its history too; what the difference between muggles and witches or wizards was; how education worked; a little bit about their government; and how he had known she was not an ordinary muggle.

"Magic leaves traces" he said. "Even in human beings."

"So, what – you saw a giant bubble around me or something?" she blurted out.

He chuckled. "No, not exactly. But similar to that! Yes. When I heard you speaking of castles and pamphlets, and things to do, I thought perhaps that you were under the impression you were a muggle. I didn't want to contradict you right then and there, but I also felt it necessary to inform you of the truth." A small, dark look flickered across his face as he said this. It passed quickly though, and Rose wondered if she had seen it at all.

"So what am I going to be doing at Hogwarts, then? Ms Wisthera mentioned that term didn't start for another 3 weeks?"

"Ah. Well, I'll be teaching you – and some of the other teachers have given up their vacation early as well – to catch you up on things you've missed. Because of your age – you'll excuse me, I'm assuming. What is your age?"

"I'm…I'm 22" she said, a little ashamed. She still was upset about how much of her life had passed her by.

"Because of your age" he continued, "I would like to place you in the 7th and final year here at Hogwarts. The ministry has kindly arranged to let you take the NEWT exams at the end of the term, after having skipped the OWLs which are taken in 5th year. I do believe you mentioned something about learning, rather quietly to yourself, in the airport?" he smiled at her.

--

Rose spent the next two weeks stuck in the castle, studying. As Dumbledore promised, there was a lot of catching up to do. He and two other teachers, Professor McGonagall and Professor Slughorn, spent most of their days teaching her everything she would need to know to blend in with other 7th years. She caught on quickly though; learning was something she loved to do. Her homework was always finished quickly, at which point she would hop off to the library and do extra research about anything that had interested her that day.

Before any of the studying started, however, the question of where she would sleep for the next three weeks – and throughout the school year – had been asked. Dumbledore decided that it would be beneficial for her to be sorted, like the regular students. She was led up to his office the very first night and asked to please sit down in a chair in front of his desk. Dumbledore retrieved a very old, strange looking hat from a shelf and turned around to face her. She was shocked when the hat started to speak:

"Ah. Albus. This is the new student?"

Dumbledore smiled, and many of the portraits around the room adopted the same look. He took it over to her and placed it on her head.

"Hmmm" the hat said. "Yes, yes, I see. Great power, and not at all tapped into. Compassion, eagerness…but great sadness."

Rose's heart had started to accelerate. What exactly did sorting mean? She had been told briefly about the four houses, but didn't understand that it would be incredibly influential for the next 8 or so months of her life. She thought these things as it whispered to her what it saw.

She imagined herself in each of the houses. Ravenclaw? Certainly she loved learning…and could be very knowledgeable. But…she also knew that people who were that studios, as a personality trait, could rub off on her the wrong way. Did that mean she was a bad person, for judging them as such? She bit her lip. Hufflepuff then? Everyone accepted here. No special talents or qualifications; hufflepuff had taught them all without bias. But wasn't Rose special? She'd made it through many things that would have broken other people. So did that make her full of herself? Did that mean that she belonged in Slytherin, where people were cunning? No…she wasn't that cunning. In fact, she got the impression that slytherins weren't exactly the favourable ones. She didn't have pure wizards blood, either. She would not be accepted there. Then that left…Gryffindor. She wasn't exactly brave, but could be brave enough. Her heart wasn't always in the right place – especially when she was angry – but she had truly grown up innocent.

That was it…she didn't belong anywhere. Where would this hat decide to place her? How would it decide? She noticed it had stopped talking. Everything was silent. She bit her lip a second time.

"Gryffindor" it whispered, "because you _Are_ pure of heart". And then, so that everyone present in the room could hear (the portraits were listening with rapt attention) "GRYFFINDOR!"

Dumbledore removed the hat and placed it quietly back on the shelf. He turned around again and smiled.

"Well, I think that will be it for tonight. If you would take a look at the first few chapters in each of these books" and he handed her some 1st year textbooks "that would be excellent. We begin tomorrow morning. Professor McGonagall will be delighted to hear you've joined her house!"

Rose sat there a little stunned. Gryffindor. She wasn't quite sure what it would mean, but she thought from the cheers of the portraits and Dumbledore's smile that it must be something good. She would think about this all night, after McGonagall had come and shown her the common room and where she would be sleeping. Britain had been her escape, her attempt at adventure…and she had definitely found it.

--

Two weeks after that moment, she was beginning 6th year material. So much had been crammed into her head by this point, but that didn't matter. She was adjusting to everything really quickly. Professor Slughorn was having her brew a particularly difficult potion today, and she had just finished and was waiting for his inspection results when Dumbledore walked in.

"Hello, sir" she said.

"Ah! Headmaster!" Professor Slughorn said. "I've never seen anything like it; this girl is incredibly talented with potions. Everything I set her comes out perfect! She has great insight" Rose went as red as a tomato. "Even this, this is her first attempt at the 6th year material. Exquisite."

"I wouldn't…quite say that, professor" she mumbled. She certainly didn't feel talented.

"Nonsense. She will easily be a member of the slug-club!" He beamed at her. She wasn't exactly sure what to make of this statement.

"Something the matter, Headmaster?" Slughorn queried.

"Oh, nothing the matter. I was just pondering, in my office…yes the other headmasters quite agree with me. They think it will be beneficial to you, Rose, if you would take the train to Hogwarts like the other students. I will take you to the platform in London 6 days from now."

Rose felt her heart sink to the bottom of her stomach. The train? Alone? She was at an incredible disadvantage. These kids had probably grown up with each other…or at the very least, they knew each other from the beginning of their school careers. Where would she fit in? Would she ever be able to accomplish that?

Rose nodded, smiling faintly at Dumbledore. "Ok" she said, in what she hoped wasn't a shaky voice.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

So, after three weeks of intense studying, Rose found herself – with most of her luggage – standing on platform 9 & 3/4s. Dumbledore had left her before anyone could see them arriving together; he reassured her that this would be a good experience. Could he see things she couldn't? Rose wondered if maybe there was more to Dumbledore than what he let on.

She pushed her trolley over to the steaming train, following the students who looked to be the most mature. She wasn't sure how the train worked – were there certain sections depending on age, year, or class? Was it done by house? She scanned around. No one was in their robes! Hmm. Oh well, she thought. "Stop worrying, everything will be fine" she told herself quietly.

Just then, someone tapped on her shoulder. She turned around.

"Hi! You look a little lost. I'm Lily" she stuck her hand towards Rose, who smiled.

"I'm Rose" she said, shaking Lily's hand. "You've got red hair too! Although…yours is probably natural. Mine is dyed."

Lily giggled "yeah, all natural. But yours looks pretty natural too – I'd have never guessed!"

"Oh, well now you know. Shh, lets keep it a secret from the rest of them," Rose replied, trying to joke. It seemed to have worked.

Lily stepped onto the train and Rose followed her, taking her lead. After they cleared the stairs, she asked "are you…I don't mean to be rude…but are you new? A transfer maybe?"

"Yeah, that's me. Transferred in." Rose wasn't sure if she should elaborate. It would be obvious, with her accent, that she wasn't from here…but she didn't exactly know the names of foreign schools. What if Lily randomly happened to have a list of them readily available? She decided that she would keep it private, pretend it was a bad memory.

"Oh, that's nice! We don't have a lot of transfers. It's a small school, Hogwarts – you'll be popular the first few weeks I think." She smiled. Rose thought this was supposed to encourage her; instead, a bunch of butterflies zoomed around furiously in her stomach.

"Ah, darn. I was hoping just to sort of blend in," she replied seriously.

"C'mon, in here" Lily said, moving into a compartment near the end of the train. She stowed her luggage in the compartment above, and Rose did the same. No one else had joined them yet, although there was certainly room for another 3-4 people.

"So, what are the teachers like?" Rose said, trying to sound as if she hadn't already met two of them nor spent the last 3 weeks at the school.

"Oh they're nice. Some of them can be strict, but that's only if you mess around a lot or forget your homework."

"People do that here? I mean, mess around and forget to hand in homework?"

Lily gave her a puzzled look. "They don't where you're from?"

"Uh, no…not really. It was rather strict…" she trailed off.

"Hmm. Well, not a lot of people are like that I suppose. Just a few…you'll find out about them sooner or later actually. They're a little gang that run around the castle with the main intention of causing grief and havoc. It's a wonder they haven't been expelled actually…" Lily looked a little far away, like she was deep in thought.

"Oh. Who are they?"

"Hm? Ah. Sirius, James, Remus…and not so much Peter but he does always hang out with them. You'll know who they are when you see them coming. I'd stay away from them if I were you, especially the first few weeks…" she was suddenly interrupted by a luggage cart banging into the compartment.

"Yes, definitely stay away from them. Sirius is Mine" a tall girl said, emphasizing 'mine' and giggling. Lily rolled her eyes.

"As if, he doesn't pay attention to anyone. Not that it matters. He's a selfish git who worries more about his hair and pranking than anything else".

"Oh come on Lily, he's handsome. Any girl would be glad to have him…besides, he'd be a project. I could change him"

"Ha ha, you keep telling yourself that."

"So…new girl?" the tall girl said after stowing her luggage and sitting down beside Lily.

"Yup. I'm Rose"

"Jessmina, but everyone calls me Jess. Where you from?"

"Uhm, Canada." Rose replied, trying to say it quietly with bitter undertones. The message was conveyed and Jess changed the subject.

"Hm. Well, soon you'll get to meet Hannah and Phiiadora, if they beat James. If not…I guess you'll have no choice but to meet the deviants Lily was just telling you about." She sat forward and fake-whispered to Rose "James is in love with Lily, he stalks her evvvvvvery year".

"Jess! Ugh."

"Hey, it's the truth! And if this compartment isn't full before he walks by, he won't hesitate to take the seat. You know that" she said teasingly. Jess sat back and pushed her long blonde hair out of the way. Lily re-assumed her far off look and stared out the window.

"But yeah, seriously. I'd stay away from Black. I've got plans for him this year. 7th year is going to be the – best – year – ever", she said, emphasizing the last few words. "He won't be able to help himself after I'm done with him!"

Rose made a mental note. James, Sirius – off limits. Wait a minute! What was she thinking? She didn't belong…she was 22. These 7th years, they were pretty much kids still! Besides, since when was she interested in dating? Never. Wow, what had changed in the last few minutes? Perhaps Dumbledore saw even more than she thought…this was too weird.

"So, how long does it take the train to get to Hogwarts?" Rose asked, trying to break the silence again.

"Oh it'll be dark before we get there. Long trip. Makes the feast…" but she was cut off by some random singing happening out in the corridor.

"Hogwarts! Hogwarts! Hoggy Warty Hogwarts! Hoggggggggg…" approached their compartment. Not male voices, Rose noted. Maybe these were the missing friends that Jess and Lily were expecting? Good…she wouldn't have to encounter the boys. Or…

"COMING THROUGH!" someone roared. "Phiia, move! This is Urgent!" Lots of scuffling in the halls and then three people burst through the door. The first two were the girls, and both planted themselves quickly on the seats – one next to Jess and the other beside Rose. The kept their luggage in front of their legs, blocking passage to Lily. Rose looked up again and saw why: this must be James. He was tall – but bent over the luggage after having tripped, had messy black hair, and was grinning sheepishly in Lily's direction. He waved at her, and stood straight.

"Had a good summer, Evans?" he said, ignoring the scoffs of the other girls. Her strategy was to ignore him and continue looking out the window.

"Obviously, she doesn't want to speak to you," one of the new girls, the one beside Jess, said.

"Obviously, I don't care what you think. Move over"

"Nope, not happening. Move along James!" He sat down on top of their luggage and swivelled around to face Lily again.

"Look, I had something to say to you. Your guard Dogs won't let up though" he said, starting to sound sincere. "Can you call them off?" he gazed intently at her. His tone got her attention this time; Rose watched the slightest blush steal over her face and then fade again.

"My friends aren't dogs James. Go back to your gang"

Another head popped through the doorway.

"He-ey!" it said, grinning mischievously. It scanned the room and the eyes stopped on the new girl.

"Woa, new girl!" the boy said, appearing completely in the doorway now. This compartment was getting rather crowded, Rose thought. Or was she just…a little bit taken? Nah. They're too young, she reminded herself.

He was rather handsome though. His hair was a bit on the long side, but that – she reminded herself – had always made her look just a little bit longer. It was black, and pretty much hung straight but was a little messy, although very in style. He was also tall and well built but slender. This must be Sirius, she thought. Jess was staring at him as if he was a piece of delicious meat.

But he didn't look at her. In fact, he only seemed to have eyes for Rose – the "new girl". She raised her hand and waved half-heartedly, then shyly said "Hi". She looked out the window, hoping the world would forget about her for the next couple of minutes. Hoping that the boys would leave the room.

"James, Sirius, you guys should leave. We haven't even had a chance to introduce her to Phiia or Hannah. C'mon, its girl-talk time. Shoo" Lily said.

"Fine, Evans." James stood up, but Sirius didn't move.

"Yeah, Fine Evans. We'll be back though". Sirius said. James had to push him out of the compartment. Rose hoped it didn't mean what she thought. But, it seemed that her fears were confirmed – the girls were all silent and Jess was looking a little angry.

"So! Phiia, Hannah – this is Rose" Lily said. "Rose, this is Hannah" she pointed to the girl beside Jess. She had short, pixie cut, dark brown hair and a round face. She was a little shorter than the other girls. "And this is Phiia". The girl beside her had pink hair, cropped short. She was incredibly skinny, and probably was about the same height as Lilly.

"Hi!" they said in unison.

--

Rose seemed to fit in with the girls okay; they were very giggly (except for Lily – she seemed more down to earth) and had a lot to say. It was very easy to be their friend. At least, that's what Rose figured they were now – friends. They were already making plans for the rest of the year, with her included.

The trolley arrived with all sorts of food – a kind little witch popped her head through the door and said "anything off the trolley dears?" She watched everyone else making purchases, and decided to try a couple things to seem normal. The last thing she wanted right now was for the girls to figure out her real story. It was incredible how much she 'just wanted to fit in'.

She tried the every-flavour-beans first.

"What flavour?!" Jess asked her, excited.

"Peppermint!" Rose responded.

"Haha, you're lucky." Phiia said. Was she? It couldn't really mean every flavour, could it? She sucked on the peppermint one as long as she could. The other girls chatted on.

A little while after the trolley, after the girls had grown board of the food, there was a commotion out in the hallway. Jess poked her head out the door, suspecting that it might be her trouble maker – Sirius – and it seemed she was correct.

"Move over", she whispered back to Hannah and Lily. It sounded now as though some sort of duel was going on outside; things were ricocheting off the outer walls of the compartments. She ducked and ran swiftly out of the compartment. A few minutes later, she came sprinting back in holding onto someone's hand – Sirius black. They fell back into the seat beside Hannah. James ran in a few seconds after them and shut the door to the compartment.

"What was that…" Lily started to ask, and then stopped herself at seeing James. "Oh, I should have known. Picking on people again, are we?"

He looked slightly offended. "Me, no! Never, Evans. Actually, someone else fired first and I was just defending myself."

"Likely" she scoffed.

"Hey, true story", Sirius defended. "If Jess hadn't rescued both of us we'd both be hanging up by our ankles being attacked by bat bogies."

It was suspicious, though, Rose thought. The spells seemed to have stopped since the boys were no longer out in the hallway. Sirius looked at her, and grinned. He put his hand through his hair trying to be cool, and she looked out the window again. Why couldn't he leave her alone? Jess was pretty, and she actually wanted Sirius' attention. More to the point, she was his age…she would be suitable for him. So why was he staring at her? Hadn't Lily said that Sirius had eyes for no one?

"It would serve you right" Lily responded.

"Hey now, I've changed Lily. I don't wander around and hex the first person I see anymore" James said.

"Oh, you hex the second and third instead?" Hannah laughed.

"Not even. He's a goody good now. Fact", Sirius said, turning his gaze away to his friend and grinning mischievously.


End file.
